Manufacture of spongy and cellular products from rubber and rubberlike materials



A July 2, 1940. A TALALAY 2,206,757

MANUFAGTURE 0F SPONGY AND CELLULAR PRODUCTS FROM RUBBER AND RUBBER LIKE MATERIAL Filed May 4, 1937 2 Sheets-Sheet l W--g @3W 17 July 2, 1940- J. A. TALALAY 2,206,757

` MANUFACTURE oF SPONGY ANDCELL-ULAR PRODUCTS FROM RUBBER AND RUBBER LIKE MATERIAL Filed May 4, 1957 2 Sheetc-Sheet 2 Patented July 2, 1940 `F SPONGY AND CILULAR PRODUCTS FROM RUBBER AND RUBBEl- LIKE MATERIALS Josef Anton Talalay, Bedford, England l Application May 4, 1937, Serial No. 140,737 In Great Britain November 7, 1936 fi Claims.

This invention relates to procedure and apf paratus for manufacturing articles comprising rubber or rubber-like material in cellular or sponged form. i

In the sponging of a dispersion or solution of such material in a mold andsetting it` therein,

` as by coagulation or vulcanization or both, in

apparatus such as heretofore has been employed, entrapped air or gas between the sponging material and a wall of the vessel or mold may prevent the spongingmaterial from completely lling out and `thus result in cavities or blemishes in the surface of the product, and also shrinkage may occur such as to result in an imperfectly molded article.

Also, when the material is sponged in a plurality of vessels or molds in a single chamber at the same time, by the use of pressure reduction as in my copending application Serial No. 67,990, filed March 9, 1936, or by any other procedure for the expansion or generation of gas inthe material, problems have arisen in the fact that some of the vessels ormolds may become filled with the sponged material and overflow before others have become completely filled.

`'I'he chief objects of this 'invention are to provide procedure and apparatus adapted to correct the above mentioned evils individually; to provide also for their concurrent correction by a single expedient; and to provide also, by the same expedient, a desirable surface texture for the product.

I attain these objects by providing for auto-` matic closure of the vessel or mold against substantial further escape of sponged material at such time as the vesselor mold has become filled with the sponged material, the vessel or mold having, until then,` a vent for escape of air or gas driven out by the expansion of the `material and the closure retaining, if desired, its gas-permeable nature thereafter. The closure may be effected by means of a float-controlled valve, or, if it is desired to permit egress and ingress of gases throughout the operation, for reasons that will appear hereinafter, the closure preferably is effected by Venting the air or gas through a porous materialsuch as canvas, or similar fabric, for example, which may be stripped from the article after it is formed, or through a sheet of material having a multiplicity of small pores or perforations.

Of the accompanying drawings:

Fig. 1 is a fragmentaryvertical section of a container or mold embodying and adapted for the practice of the invention.

(ci. isf-s) Fig. 2 is a similar view of a modification.

` Fig. 3 isa similar view of another modification.

Fig. 4 is a similar view of still another modicatlon.

Fig. 5 is a vertical section of a mold adapted for the production of a cellular article having cavities of predetermined shape molded in it.

Fig. 6 is a fragmentary vertical section of a frothing vessel embodying and adapted for the practiceof the invention..

Fig. 'l is a vertical section of apparatus comprising a oat-and-valvedevice which embodies `and is `adapted for the practice of the invention.

In Fig. 1, the cover l of the vessel has a screwthreaded aperture in which is mounted a complementally threaded neck member 3 which has screwed thereon ank annular clamping member 4 which clamps against the upper edge face of the neck member 3 a piece of canvas or the like 5, this arrangement being such that air or gas can escape `through the canvas 5 as the frothing material rises in the vessel but when the rising froth reaches the canvas its contact therewith will cause it to lose moisture and perhaps locally coagulate, in that case forming` a skin of dense material against the under side of the canvas, which skin, however, may have suiiicient porosityto allow further escape of gas and pre-` vent pocketing of gas within the mold. At all events the porous material prevents escape of froth from the vessel, thus acting virtually as a valve. Also, the permeable material permits air to enter the cells or interstices in the froth and thus stabilize it against shrinkage` upon its removal from the mold or vessel before or after the setting or the vulcanizing operation.

Y To enhance coagulation the canvas may be treated with a coagulent, such as ammonium chloride or a coagulating acid, in the case of an aqueous dispersion of rubber, for example, as the frothing material.

Thiokol and Duprene are examples of rubberlike materials to which also the invention is ap-` plicable. y

Examples ofother porous materials that may be employed in place of the canvas are plaster of Paris, earthenware, unglazed porcelain, wood, cork, paper, cardboard and felt. A fabric like canvas or a cheap cotton fabric, however, isgenerally preferable, because of its cheapness, desirable degree of porosity, suitability for being treated with a coagulant, and flexibility adapting it tobe stripped from the product.

The frothed material, lling the vessel or mold,

can be fully coagulated and vulcanized therein or, if it has been frothed by means of a gas producing substance so that the gas pressure within the cells is substantially that of the atmosphere the froth can be poured into other vessels or molds for the setting and the vulcanizing operation. The invention also is applicable to prevulcanized dispersions, such as vulcanized rubber latex.

Fillers, coloring matter and fibrous material may be provided in the product either by mixing them therein before the'beginning of the frothing operation or, in the case of fibrous material, such as hair, by disposing it as desired in the mold and allowing the Vfrothing material to .progress through its interstices, suitable means being provided, if desired, for maintaining a predetermined location or distribution of the fibrous material in the mold. A

In Fig. 2 the valve` means `comprises a neck member 8 having at its upper end an internal flange against which is mounted a plug 6 ofv porous material such as sponge rubber or cork and a layer of canvas 1 `may be held againstth lower face of the'plug by asnap ring 9.' yIn Fig. 3 the cover I of the vessel is formed with a simple opening inwhich is wedged a stopper-like member IU of porous material, such as sponge rubber or cork, faced `with a sheet vI I. of

canvas or the like.

1n Fig. 5 `cavity-molding mocks l1, l.li are `sup-` ported from `one or. both of two. opposite`walls'"" of a frothing vessel or mold I8 and'fthe latter is provided not only with gas-venting and frothf stopping valve means. I8 in its top wall but alsoi*` with similar means I9, ls'mounted .fin its sidewalls, in such positions as to' promote expansion.

of the froth in such several directions as to completely fill the mold notwithstanding thev ob-1v structing effect of the blocks I1, and with desirable uniformity of pore size andof density throughout, and, by avoiding vthe pocketing of air or gas between the expanding :froth and the walls of the vessel, to avoid undesired cavities or blemishes in the surface. of the product'` In Fig. 6 valve means are provided as to both the floor and the cover of the vessel 28, the composite cover being tted into the vessel against an internal angle-iron stop 29'and the composite floor being similarly fitted into the vessel against an internal angle-iron stop 30.

The composite floor comprises, from the. interior outward, a perforate sheet of metal 24, a sheet of canvas 25, an imperforate sheet of metal 26, and an imperforate sheet of wood 21.

The composite cover comprises, from the inte'- rlor outward, a perforate sheet of metal 20, a sheet of canvas 2|, a layer of sponge rubber 22 and an apertured sheet of wood 23.

In this embodiment the surface of the product, except at the positions of the relatively small apertures, is molded against metal surfaces, substantially without the formation of a skin of dense material'on the product, whereas, when the molding is against porous material such as canvas, for example, such a skin isformed and the stripping of the porous material from it leaves upon it a fabric impression or, in the case of other porous materials such as earthenware, a mat surface.

Also. in the use of this embodiment of the inpress thevolume of the latter.

vention the contraction of the froth'inv the vessel which normally takesplace during the setting does not occur from the top, for the. porous layer in conjunction with the perforated metal holds the froth upin the vessel.V 'I'he same holds for the bottom of the vessel, when the latter has been provided with 'a bottom element similar lin construction to the lid. 'I he same will also hold for any side of the vessel whichcomprises a porous layer, and the' shrinkage of the product during setting can be considerably reduced' by making a 'sufllcient area of the' interior surface of the vessel -of a porousnature.

In Fig. '7, a different type ofvalve means, comprising rigid slide-valve members, is shown.

The container is provided with a neck member 33 closed at the topby a washer 34 and screwcap 35 which are centrally apertured to accommodate with a sliding fit a guide-stem 38 of a preferably hollowfloat member 31.1 Above the cap 35 the stem 38 is provided with a stop colilar 39 for supporting theriioat in its '.lowermost '.'until thevesseland a part'of-,the neck` member have become filled with the spongedmaterial the float member 31 is -provided with apertures 40, 40 and the neck member near its top is provided .Y with apertures y3Ii,-3 6;., 'I'o cause the float-member to have jgreater buoyancy onthejsponging material when the latter reaches it' the cavity 'of the float member maybepartially closed at s lower end,A by. a' pressed-in sheet* of porous material .43, -withlor without one lor more-apertures schas the aperture 42.

; This construction is such thatjthe sponging material rising inf the neck memberil en- '.gage the float and raiseit until its side-wall closes oftthe apertures-36 ofthe neck member, upon `the slide-valve principle, and,iif desired,the po- Y, sitionof the=projecting portion`l of the guide stem .38 caribe employed, visually or otherwise; to indiscatol or. register the fact Ythat the vessel has becorrieflledwith the cellular materiahI 'fj 'Theelosureeiected lby the method and apparatus .of the invention need. not'be hermetic and can remainpermeable' to gases while impermeable to-the froth during theperio'd following the .completegfllling of the vessel 'and during the setting operation. This is very important in' those cases where, partly throughcollapse of a certain amount `of bubbles, partly throughvthe continuation of the chemical reaction or ofthe physical change, even after the mold haszbeen lled completely, more gas is liberated which, if not permitted to escape, would accumulate over the froth (which is' still mobile) and would tend to com- Again, the possible non-hermetic nature of the closure has the advantage, when making spongy or cellular rubber products by a method employing reduction of pressure'to subatmospheric, that after the setting is complete and normal pressure is restored air or other gas can penetratey through the permeable ,clo'sure, yslowly filling the structure with air or; gas.` 1 v In the appended'claims the expression "a ma-` terial having the pertinent characteristics of rubber is to be understood as meaning a material having all of the following characteristics: that it can be in the form of'an aqueous dispersion; f

that the dispersion can bev causedl to foam by modification of Vits condition of pressure inr relation to temperature; that the foam produced can be irreversibly set in its expanded form; and that when set it will have an elasticity and resilience similar to that of vulcanized natural rubber.

I claim:

1. The method of making an article of cellular material which comprises causing an aqueous dispersion of a material having the pertinent characteristics of rubber to extend itself by expansion in cellular form in a vessel and freely venting gaseous uid from the vessel while the said material attains a determinate volume therein and preventing escape of the dispersion by effecting local coagulation of the said material in the dispersion by contact of the dispersion with a gas-permeable member.

2. The method of making an article of cellular material which comprises causing an aqueous dispersion of a material having the pertinent characteristics of rubberto extend itself by expansion in cellular form in a vessel and freely venting gaseous iiuid from the vessel while the said material attains a determinate volume therein and preventing escape of the dispersion by effecting local coagulation of the said material in the dispersion by contact of the dispersion with a gas-permeable member, the gas-permeable member being preliminarily treated with a substance adapted to eiect coagulation o! the dispersed material.

3. The method of making an article of cellular material which comprises causing an aqueous dispersion of a material having the pertinent characteristics of rubber to extend itself by expansion in cellular form in a vessel and freely venting gaseousv fluid from the vessel through a porous material until the dispersion contacts the said porous material and thereby is locally coagulated and thus restricted against further expansion.

4. The method of making an article of cellu-v lar material which comprises causing a dispersion of an aqueous material having the pertinent characteristics of rubber to extend' itself by expansion `in cellular form in a vessel and freely venting gaseous uid from the vessel through a gas permeable member, the venting being effected at a plurality of positions determinately located with reference to the shape of the space within the vessel and with reference to resistance to ow incident to the shape of said space, escape of the said material being prevented by local coagulation of the dispersion upon contact of the dispersion with the gas permeable member.

JOSEF ANTON TALALAY. 

